Fort Christanna
Encyclopedia
Fort Christanna was one of the projects of Lt. Governor Alexander Spotswood
, who was governor of the Virginia Colony 1710-1722. The fort was designed to offer protection and schooling to the tributary Siouan and Iroquoian tribes, living to the southwest of the colonized area of Virginia. Located in what became Brunswick County, Virginia
, near Gholsonville, the fort was completed in 1714 and enjoyed three successful years of operation as the westernmost outpost of the British Empire at the time, before being finally closed by the House of Burgesses
in 1718. However, the demoralized Saponi
and Tutelo
continued to live on the allotted land, 6 miles square (36 sq. mi), into the 1730s and 1740s.
broke out in 1711, Spotswood conceived the idea of a fort where he would settle the Siouan and Iroquoian tribes of Virginia that had been Tributary since 1677. The fort would offer them protection from hostile tribes, act as a trading center, and also provide schooling to their children to learn English culture. In late 1713, he got his idea approved by the Burgesses; it was to be under the jurisdiction of the newly formed Virginia Indian Company, which had a monopoly.
, and Nahyssan, to occupy the tract that was surveyed. However, the Iroquoian tribes in Virginia, the Nottoway
and Meherrin
, refused to take up their portion, saying they would not live with the Siouans. Spotswood even contemplated abducting them to make them live at the fort, but they eluded all efforts.
He named the fort "Christ-Anna" after Christ
, and after Queen Anne
, who died later that year. It was built according to state-of-the-art principles of fort construction at that time, in the shape of a pentagon, and a blockhouse with 1400-lb cannon at each of the 5 corners, 100 yards apart, so as to enable each to command within sight of the next two. Inside the fort was a school for Indian children, taught by a Charles Griffin, where they learned to speak and write English, and to read the Bible and Book of Common Prayer.
Lieut. John Fontaine, who spent some time there 1715-1716, left a detailed account of his observations on the Indians, and also recorded about 45-50 words and phrases of their Tutelo-Saponi language
. He saw the fort at the peak of its success, and described hordes of "happy Indian children shrieking through the rain". Another visitor, Rev. Hugh Jones, reported that the 77 Indian students could read, write and say their catechisms tolerably well, and that the natives adored Griffin so much, they "fain would have chosen him for a King of the Sapony Nation".
Spotswood continued to take a keen interest and later started building his own house nearby, bringing his family there at one point in 1717.
, who had inherited his father's lucrative Indian trade. While back in London, he lobbied the Lords of Trade, arguing that Christanna was an unnecessary expense, and calling on them to return to independent trade and dissolve the Company. Despite Spotswood's objections, they did so on November 12, 1717. In May 1718, a treaty was signed with the Iroquois
of New York, whereby they agreed not to come east of the Blue Ridge, and the Burgesses thereupon voted to discontinue manning the fort. Mr Griffin remained until September, then transferred to become master of the Indian school at William and Mary College.
The Saponi and Tutelo remained on the tract for several more years, at a village called Junkatapurse (Tutelo: chunketa pasui, "horse's head"). They began moving elsewhere in small bands around 1730. The largest part of them moved to Shamokin, Pennsylvania
in 1740, where they joined the Iroquois, and were formally adopted by the Cayuga nation
in New York in 1753. Meanwhile colonists had begun moving to the lands around the fort in such numbers that in 1720, Brunswick County was formed there as a separate county.
The five large cannon once at the fort are supposed to have been buried in the well; its location is currently uncertain. A lesser cannon said to be from Christanna was for years in the front yard of a private home in the vicinity, fired every July 4 and Christmas, and in 1900, was moved to sit in front of the Christopher Wren Building
at William and Mary College. Another lesser cannon attributed to Christanna was taken to Lawrenceville, Virginia
and fired to celebrate the election of Grover Cleveland
in 1887, at which time it accidentally exploded; its remains in 1975 were said to be buried in the filled-in cellar of a former home.
Alexander Spotswood
Alexander Spotswood was a Lieutenant-Colonel in the British Army and a noted Lieutenant Governor of Virginia. He is noted in Virginia and American history for a number of his projects as Governor, including his exploring beyond the Blue Ridge Mountains, his establishing what was perhaps the first...
, who was governor of the Virginia Colony 1710-1722. The fort was designed to offer protection and schooling to the tributary Siouan and Iroquoian tribes, living to the southwest of the colonized area of Virginia. Located in what became Brunswick County, Virginia
Brunswick County, Virginia
As of the census of 2000, there were 18,419 people, 6,277 households, and 4,312 families residing in the county. The population density was 32 people per square mile . There were 7,541 housing units at an average density of 13 per square mile...
, near Gholsonville, the fort was completed in 1714 and enjoyed three successful years of operation as the westernmost outpost of the British Empire at the time, before being finally closed by the House of Burgesses
House of Burgesses
The House of Burgesses was the first assembly of elected representatives of English colonists in North America. The House was established by the Virginia Company, who created the body as part of an effort to encourage English craftsmen to settle in North America...
in 1718. However, the demoralized Saponi
Saponi
Saponi is one of the eastern Siouan-language tribes, related to the Tutelo, Occaneechi, Monacan, Manahoac and other eastern Siouan peoples. Its ancestral homeland was in North Carolina and Virginia. The tribe was long believed extinct, as its members migrated north to merge with other tribes...
and Tutelo
Tutelo
The Tutelo were Native people living above the Fall Line in present-day Virginia and West Virginia, speaking a Siouan dialect of the Tutelo language thought to be similar to that of their neighbors, the Monacan and Manahoac nations...
continued to live on the allotted land, 6 miles square (36 sq. mi), into the 1730s and 1740s.
Background
After the Tuscarora WarTuscarora War
The Tuscarora War was fought in North Carolina during the autumn of 1711 until 11 February 1715 between the British, Dutch, and German settlers and the Tuscarora Native Americans. A treaty was signed in 1715....
broke out in 1711, Spotswood conceived the idea of a fort where he would settle the Siouan and Iroquoian tribes of Virginia that had been Tributary since 1677. The fort would offer them protection from hostile tribes, act as a trading center, and also provide schooling to their children to learn English culture. In late 1713, he got his idea approved by the Burgesses; it was to be under the jurisdiction of the newly formed Virginia Indian Company, which had a monopoly.
History
In 1714 Spotswood himself visited the site and successfully persuaded the Siouan tribes, who included the Saponi, Tutelo, OccaneechiOccaneechi
The Occaneechi are Native Americans who lived primarily on a large, long Occoneechee Island and east of the confluence of the Dan and Roanoke Rivers, near current day Clarksville, Virginia in the 17th century...
, and Nahyssan, to occupy the tract that was surveyed. However, the Iroquoian tribes in Virginia, the Nottoway
Nottoway
- Geographic Regions :* Nottoway River, a river in Virginia* Nottoway County, a county of Virginia* Nottoway, Virginia, an unincorporated community- Namesakes :* USS Nottoway, renamed , a harbour tug of the United States Navy between 1898–1946....
and Meherrin
Meherrin
The Meherrin Nation is one of eight state-recognized Nations of Native Americans in North Carolina. They reside in rural northeastern North Carolina, near the river of the same name on the Virginia-North Carolina border. They received formal state recognition in 1986. The Meherrin have an...
, refused to take up their portion, saying they would not live with the Siouans. Spotswood even contemplated abducting them to make them live at the fort, but they eluded all efforts.
He named the fort "Christ-Anna" after Christ
Christ
Christ is the English term for the Greek meaning "the anointed one". It is a translation of the Hebrew , usually transliterated into English as Messiah or Mashiach...
, and after Queen Anne
Anne of Great Britain
Anne ascended the thrones of England, Scotland and Ireland on 8 March 1702. On 1 May 1707, under the Act of Union, two of her realms, England and Scotland, were united as a single sovereign state, the Kingdom of Great Britain.Anne's Catholic father, James II and VII, was deposed during the...
, who died later that year. It was built according to state-of-the-art principles of fort construction at that time, in the shape of a pentagon, and a blockhouse with 1400-lb cannon at each of the 5 corners, 100 yards apart, so as to enable each to command within sight of the next two. Inside the fort was a school for Indian children, taught by a Charles Griffin, where they learned to speak and write English, and to read the Bible and Book of Common Prayer.
Lieut. John Fontaine, who spent some time there 1715-1716, left a detailed account of his observations on the Indians, and also recorded about 45-50 words and phrases of their Tutelo-Saponi language
Tutelo language
The Tutelo language is a member of the Virginian branch of Siouan languages that was originally spoken in what is now Virginia and West Virginia, as well as in the later travels of the speakers through North Carolina, Pennsylvania, New York, and finally, Ontario...
. He saw the fort at the peak of its success, and described hordes of "happy Indian children shrieking through the rain". Another visitor, Rev. Hugh Jones, reported that the 77 Indian students could read, write and say their catechisms tolerably well, and that the natives adored Griffin so much, they "fain would have chosen him for a King of the Sapony Nation".
Spotswood continued to take a keen interest and later started building his own house nearby, bringing his family there at one point in 1717.
Decline
The monopoly of the Virginia Indian Company on trading soon aroused the ire of private merchants such as William Byrd IIWilliam Byrd II
Colonel William Byrd II was a planter, slave-owner and author from Charles City County, Virginia. He is considered the founder of Richmond, Virginia.-Biography:...
, who had inherited his father's lucrative Indian trade. While back in London, he lobbied the Lords of Trade, arguing that Christanna was an unnecessary expense, and calling on them to return to independent trade and dissolve the Company. Despite Spotswood's objections, they did so on November 12, 1717. In May 1718, a treaty was signed with the Iroquois
Iroquois
The Iroquois , also known as the Haudenosaunee or the "People of the Longhouse", are an association of several tribes of indigenous people of North America...
of New York, whereby they agreed not to come east of the Blue Ridge, and the Burgesses thereupon voted to discontinue manning the fort. Mr Griffin remained until September, then transferred to become master of the Indian school at William and Mary College.
The Saponi and Tutelo remained on the tract for several more years, at a village called Junkatapurse (Tutelo: chunketa pasui, "horse's head"). They began moving elsewhere in small bands around 1730. The largest part of them moved to Shamokin, Pennsylvania
Shamokin, Pennsylvania
Shamokin is a city in Northumberland County, Pennsylvania, at the western edge of the Anthracite Coal Region. At the 2000 census the population was 8,009 residents...
in 1740, where they joined the Iroquois, and were formally adopted by the Cayuga nation
Cayuga nation
The Cayuga people was one of the five original constituents of the Haudenosaunee , a confederacy of American Indians in New York. The Cayuga homeland lay in the Finger Lakes region along Cayuga Lake, between their league neighbors, the Onondaga to the east and the Seneca to the west...
in New York in 1753. Meanwhile colonists had begun moving to the lands around the fort in such numbers that in 1720, Brunswick County was formed there as a separate county.
The five large cannon once at the fort are supposed to have been buried in the well; its location is currently uncertain. A lesser cannon said to be from Christanna was for years in the front yard of a private home in the vicinity, fired every July 4 and Christmas, and in 1900, was moved to sit in front of the Christopher Wren Building
Wren Building
The Wren Building is the signature building of the College of William and Mary in Williamsburg, Virginia, USA. Along with the Brafferton and President's House, these buildings form the College's Historic Campus....
at William and Mary College. Another lesser cannon attributed to Christanna was taken to Lawrenceville, Virginia
Lawrenceville, Virginia
Lawrenceville is a town in Brunswick County, Virginia, United States. The population was 1,275 at the 2000 census. Located by the Meherrin River, it is the county seat of Brunswick County and home to historically black Saint Paul's College, founded in 1888 and affiliated with the Episcopal Church...
and fired to celebrate the election of Grover Cleveland
Grover Cleveland
Stephen Grover Cleveland was the 22nd and 24th president of the United States. Cleveland is the only president to serve two non-consecutive terms and therefore is the only individual to be counted twice in the numbering of the presidents...
in 1887, at which time it accidentally exploded; its remains in 1975 were said to be buried in the filled-in cellar of a former home.